The present invention relates to a circuit arrangement for controlling a lamp, and particularly to a circuit for controlling a fluorescent lamp in a non-contacting manner.
A conventional infrared switch for controlling an electric lamp is a so-called two-line hot wire control switch, which can only be allied to resistive loads, such as tungsten lamps, halogen lamps, etc. However, this type of switch fails to control inductive loads, such as fluorescent lamps, as the impedance of the fluorescent lamp is infinite i.e., open-circuited when the fluorescent lamp is not powered.
Under this situation, existing two-line infrared switches additionally equipped with a ground wire during installation solve the above limitation of the infrared switches by providing an infrared sensor of the switch with a sufficient electric power. However, such an approach has to additionally provide a passage on walls or within the walls, thus, it will damage the interior decoration of the house. Thus, such an approach cannot be widely used.